With a background as a personal trainer Lucy Petrie knew she was fit for business.

So after spending time in property management and a business development role for a cleaning company she struck out on her own.

The 28-year-old spent three months working on the Help4Letting website before launching it earlier this year.

She said: "In my experience, many letting agents are highly professional and do a good job.

"But I realised that there was also a need for a fresh approach to the whole business of letting.

"The result was that I set up a letting hub which focuses on providing a friendly, ethical and professional service."

Petrie hopes the move will help tenants and landlords better understand their rights and responsibilities.

Already she has attracted clients from abroad by conducting meetings using internet telephone service Skype while the personal touches she offers are also helping.

She said: "We even offer to meet and greet our tenant at the airport or train station.

"My service is tailored to the individual needs of the landlord and tenant.

"Landlords decide how they want their property management requirements to be handled or I can simple direct a tenant to landlords and help them both with the initial process.

"My business is very young but it is already growing. I am gaining more and more properties to market and receiving testimonials from both landlords and tenants which show me that I am on the right track."